Companies still avid to invest
Valor Econômico - 07/28/2008
The willingness of the Brazilian companies to invest continued strong in the first half of the year, despite the great uncertainties in the foreign setting and the beginning of a new cycle of increase in the interest rates. A survey made by Bradesco shows that 484 companies announced new investments between January and June, amounting to R$ 385.7 billion (US$ 241.1 billion), a value 82% above the investments made in the same period of 2007. The investments' funds also grew strongly, as indicated the estimates for the Gross Formation of Fixed Capital (GFFC, which measures what is invested in civil construction and machines and equipment) in the second quarter. MB Associados projects an expansion of 12.1% compared to the same period of 2007. It is less than the 15.2% of the first period, but still a hefty number. Lower effective interest rates, perspective of stronger growth, more stability and access to several funding sources are some of the factors that explain the strong increase in investments in the last months. The expectation for the second half of the year is deceleration, because of the higher base of comparison and the increase in the interest rates. Nonetheless, the prevailing opinion is that the GFFC continues growing more than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), consolidating the increase of the productive capacity. In 2007, the investment measured by this index increased 13.4%.